The present invention relates to landscape edging systems and methods, and more particularly to landscape edging systems and methods for forming borders or walkways between adjoining garden, landscape, driveway, walkway, patio or sidewalk areas.
Gardeners, landscapers and homeowners frequently use border or edging material such as fences, logs, railroad ties, bricks, concrete blocks and the like to provide a decorative edge for a landscape or garden. Such border or edging material is also frequently employed to physically separate landscape, garden and other areas from one another.
Plastic landscape edging is now commonly used to divide and separate different landscape areas to preclude material in one area from spilling over into an adjacent area, and to prevent grass, flowers or the like contained in one area from growing in an adjoining area. For example, plastic edging is typically used to divide grass landscape areas from adjoining garden areas, and helps prevent grass from taking root in adjoining garden areas. Plastic edging also helps prevent garden bedding material from spilling onto the adjoining landscape area. The most prevalent materials used to fabricate landscape edging today are inert, synthetic flexible plastics such as polyethylene and ethylene vinyl acetate.
In the past, landscape edging has been formed from lengths of wood, corrugated metal strips, plastic, cement blocks and poured concrete. Wood is subject to rot and insect attack and decays over time. Wood landscape timbers must therefore be replaced rather frequently. Ungalvanized metal bands oxidize and rust, and tend to become bent and misshapen over time. Even galvanized metal bands eventually corrode once the protective zinc coating has been oxidized. Concrete blocks are inflexible, difficult to install and generally heavy. Poured concrete is expensive, difficult or impossible to modify once poured and set, and difficult and time-consuming to install.
Plastic landscape edging, on the other hand, is inexpensive, readily manufactured, flexible and has a long service life. As a result of the disadvantages inhering in wood, metal and concrete landscaping materials and the unique advantages of plastic, plastic landscape edging has become the landscape edging material of choice of many consumers.
While landscape edging formed from inert synthetic plastic has many advantages such as being flexible and resisting deterioration well, problems nevertheless occur in their use. Conventional landscape edging usually consists of a longitudinally extending strip of material having a lower edge that is inserted into the ground to a predetermined depth and an upper edge or rail that generally projects above the ground. The edging is typically installed by digging a narrow trench, inserting the lower edge to a predetermined depth, refilling the trench and compacting the earth around the edging. Such installation normally maintains the edging in its intended position for a period of time.
As time progresses, however, the environment and other factors actively work against the edging remaining in its original position. The edging may be walked on, bumped, kicked, shoved aside or otherwise engaged in such a manner that it is displaced in respect of its original position. Landscape mowers or tractors may repeatedly drive over the edging and displace or damage the edging.
The winter effects of frost heave, or the freezing and thawing action of the earth surrounding the edging, are often more severe than the foregoing effects in respect of edging displacement or damage. The ground retains moisture in the fall that freezes with dropping temperatures. Water is one of the few materials having a coefficient of volume expansion that increases as temperature decreases, and the ground accordingly expands with frozen moisture in the winter. This has the effect of compressing and heaving the landscape edging, and as a result the edging breaks or is laterally or vertically displaced. When spring arrives in colder climates, plastic landscape edging is often found to have buckled upwards and protruded from the ground during the winter in response to frost heave, especially where adjacent strips of edging are connected to one another. As temperatures rise in spring, the moisture beneath the ground surface melts, again changing the volume of the subsurface ground adjoining the edging. As the seasons alternate, the landscape edging is repeatedly exposed to a variety of forces arising from changing soil volumes that, over the long term, cause the edging to become dislodged or damaged.
Landscape edging systems, components and methods are well known in the art, some examples of which may be found in the issued U.S. Patents listed in Table 1 below.
Particular attention is directed to the following prior art patents: U.S. Pat. No. 3,762,113 to O""Mullen; U.S. Pat. No. 4,747,231 to LeMay et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,945,675 to Kendrick; U.S. Pat. No. 5,027,551 to Rodriguez; U.S. Pat. No. 5,119,587 to Waltz; U.S. Pat. No. 5,240,343 to Strobl, Jr.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,421,118 to Bauer; U.S. Pat. No. 5,568,994 to Dawson; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,588,262 to Dawson.
Those of skill in the art will appreciate readily upon reading the Summary of the Invention, Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments and Claims set forth below, that at least some of the devices and methods disclosed in the patents of Table 1 may be modified advantageously using the teachings of the present invention.
The present invention has certain objects. That is, the present invention provides solutions to many problems existing in the prior art respecting landscape edging systems, components and methods. Those problems include: (a) landscape edging or blocks that become displaced or pushed out of the ground by frost heave; (b) adjacent sections of landscape edging or blocks that buckle or separate at their points of connection due to frost heave; (c) difficulty of installation, especially when a trench must be excavated to receive the landscape edging or blocks; (d) lack of consistency and continuity in the appearance and depth of installation of plastic landscape edging; (e) a degree of coupling of landscape edging or blocks to underlying or surrounding earth that is insufficient to prevent or minimize frost heave or other undesired shifting or movement of the strips or blocks; (f) a degree of coupling between adjoining landscape edging strips or blocks that is insufficient to prevent or minimize frost heave or other undesired shifting or movement of the strips or blocks at the points where they connect to one another; (g) landscape edging or blocks being damaged easily by landscape mower or grass trimmer blades, or by other landscape equipment; (h) landscape edging or blocks of such a design that a grass trimming step is required after a landscape mowing step has been completed; (i) adjoining edging blocks that fall away or become separated from one another over time, or that are susceptible to being separated from, pulled or pushed away from one another over time, due to erosional, gravitational, human or other forces acting upon them; (j) wood blocks that crack, split, rot or become discolored over time; (k) metal dividing members that corrode or become discolored over time; (l) plastic landscape edging strips and connecting points that become faded, discolored, cracked or broken due to the deleterious effects of ultraviolet radiation, weathering and other forces of nature; (m) landscape edging or blocks that lack continuity of style, color, texture or material in respect of other landscape features such as retaining walls, planters, accent lighting, patios, sidewalks or the like, and (n) lack of a single landscape edging system capable of being adapted readily and easily to changing landscape or stylistic requirements such as updates or changes in color, texture, material or style. Various embodiments of the present invention have the object of solving at least some of the foregoing problems.
In comparison to known landscape edging systems, components and methods, various embodiments of the present invention provide numerous advantages that include one or more of the following: (a) eliminating the need to dig a trench; (b) reducing or eliminating the deleterious effects of UV radiation on plastic; (c) requiring less material to be excavated during installation of landscape edging; (d) eliminating the need to excavate a trench when installing a landscape edging system; (e) reducing the weight of edging blocks; (v) reducing the amount of material required to form landscape edging blocks; (f) strengthening the degree of anchoring of edging blocks to the soil; (g) reducing the effects of frost heave (note: small anchors have reduced surface area, and thus are heaved less?)
Some embodiments of the invention have certain features, including: (a) block 60 having recess 80 disposed on the bottom surface thereof for receiving top rail 14 of edging member 10 therein, recess 80, top rail 14 and edging member 10 assuming any of a number of different cross-sectional shapes; (b) means for interconnecting adjoining lengths of edging members 10; (c) means for interconnecting or abutting adjoining blocks 60; (d) means for minimizing the effects of frost heave or displacement of edging members 10 such as soil pockets, barbs, anchoring stakes and the like; (e) means for attaching or securing block 60 to top rail 14; (f) adapter means for attaching or securing block 60 to top rail 14; (g) means for compensating for changes in ground elevation and depth of burial of edging member 10; (h) means for coring blocks 60; (i) means for securing blocks 60 to edging member 10 or ground 400; (j) sprinkler and lighting means incorporated into edging member 10 or block 60; (k) means for forming walkways or driveways comprising blocks 60, bottom barriers 140 and side barriers 135; (l) means for forming trenchless landscape edging systems, and (m) means for forming erosion or soil containment systems.